"Onything sets a gude face," quo' the monkey wi' the mutch on.
Open confession is gude for the soul.
Oppression will mak a wise man wud.
O' the marriages in May, the bairns die o' decay.
O' twa ills choose the least.
Our ain reek's better than ither folk's fire.
Our sins and debts are aften mair than we think.
Our sowens are ill sour'd, ill seil'd, ill sauted, ill sodden, thin, an' little o' them. Ye may stay a' night, but ye may gang hame if ye like. It's weel kenn'd your faither's son was ne'er a scambler.
This proverb is, we think, fairly entitled to rank as the second longest on record, the first being, as recorded by Trench, the German one, "Folk say there is a lack of four people on earth," &c. Kelly says that "this was a speech of a countrywoman of mine to a guest that she would gladly have shaken off, and being so oddly expressed it became a proverb, which we repeat when we think our friend does not entertain us heartily."
Out o' debt, out o' danger.
Out o' God's blessing into the warm sun.
Out o' Davy Lindsay into Wallace.
"Davy Lindsay and Wallace" were two books formerly used in schools; and the proverb is used when a person changes, or, more properly, advances from one thing to another.
Out on the Highgate is aye fair play.
Out o' sight out o' languor.
"Long absent, soon forgotten."-- English.
Out o' the peat pot into the gutter.
"Out of the frying pan into the fire."-- English.
Out o' the warld and into Kippen.
Kippen, in Stirlingshire, was formerly so very remote and little frequented by strangers, that a visit to it was jocularly deemed equivalent to going out of the world altogether; and the remark passed into a proverb, used when a person is going to a strange place. The feudal lord of this district was formerly styled King of Kippen.
Own debt and crave days.
Ower braw a purse to put a plack in.
That is, externally grander or more showy than internal means justify. "Spoken when one builds a magnificent house upon a small income."-- Kelly.
Ower high, ower laigh, ower het, ower cauld.
That is, from one extreme to the other.
Ower holy was hanged, but rough and sonsy wan awa'.
Ower mony cooks spoil the broth.
Ower mony grieves hinder the wark.
Ower mony irons in the fire, some maun cool.
Spoken when a person has too many projects in hand, meaning that some must fail.
"Ower mony maisters," quo' the puddock to the harrow, when ilka tooth gied her a tug.
Ower muckle hameliness spoils gude courtesy.
"Too much familiarity breeds contempt."-- English.
Ower muckle loose leather about your chafts.
A rude hut expressive way of saying that a person is not looking well, or is, Scotice, "thin."
Ower muckle cookery spoils the brochan.
Ower muckle o' ae thing is gude for naething.
Ower narrow counting culyes nae kindness.
To "culye" is to gain, to draw forth. "When people deal in rigour with us we think ourselves but little obliged to them."-- Kelly.
Ower reckless may repent.
Ower sicker, ower loose.
Or, you are either too harsh and stringent, or the very reverse.
Ower strong meat for your weak; stamack.
Ower sune is easy mended

PATCH and lang sit, build and soon flit
A slow and gradual rise is likely to prove a permanent one; but a rapid or sudden one merely temporary; or, as the Irishman said, "Up like a rocket, and down like its stick."
Paterson's mare aye goes foremost.
Pay-before-hand's never weel ser'd.
The tradesman is said to be troubled with two kinds of bad customers, viz., those who pay in advance, or "beforehand,' and those who do not pay at all.
Pay him in his ain coin.
Pennyless souls maun pine in purgatory.
Penny-wheep's gude enough for muslin-kail.
"Penny-wheep," says Jaimeson, "is the weakest kind of small beer, sold at a penny per bottle;" and muslin-kail is a common kind of broth. The proverb expresses that poor service merits poor reward.
Peter's in, Paul's out.
"Spoken when, after we had wanted a necessary person a long time, upon his arrival, another equally necessary gone "-- Kelly.
Pigs may whistle, but they hae an ill mouth for't
Applied when an awkward person is attempting to perform some work of which he is incapable.
Penny wise and pound foolish.
Pint stoups hae lang lugs.
For a great deal is said over them, which, but for their influence, would not be heard.
Pith's gude at a' play but threading o' needles.
Plack aboot's fair play.
Placks and bawbees grow pounds.
Plaister thick and some will stick.
Play carle wi' me again if you daur.
"Do not dare to offer to contest with me. Spoke by parents to stubborn children."-- Kelly.
Play's gude while it's play.
Pleading at the law is like fighting through a whin bush--the harder the blows the sairer the scarts.
The knowledge that "whin bush" is the furze renders this saying easily intelligible.
Please your kimmer, and ye'll easy guide your gossip.
Please yoursel and ye'll no dee o' the pet.
Plenty is nae plague.
Plenty maks dainty.
Poets and painters are aye poor.
This appears in no collection preceding Henderson's, and is probably a record of his own experience and that of his friends, he being a painter himself by profession, and on intimate terms with Motherwell and others.
Poets and painters hae liberty to lo'e.
Poor folk are fain o' little.
Poor folk maun fit their wame to their winning.
Poor folk seek meat for their stamacks, and rich folk stamacks for their meat.
Poor folk's friends soon misken them.
Poortith pairts gude company.
Poortith's better than pride.
Poortith's pain, but nae disgrace.
Poortith taks awa pith.
"'I tell you, Master Moniplies,' said Jenkin, 'I am as poor as any Scot among you. I have broken my indenture, and I think of running the country.' 'A-well-a-day!' said Ritchie. 'But that maunna be, man. I ken weel, by sad experience, that poortith takes away pith, and the man sits full still that has a rent in his breeks.'"-- Fortunes of Nigel.
Poortith wi' patience is less painfu'.
Possession's worth an ill charter.
Poverty's a bad back friend.
Praise without profit puts little i' the pat.
Prayer and practice is gude rhyme.
Pretty man, I maun say; tak a peat and sit down.
We are unable to make much either of this proverb or of Kelly's note to it--"An ironical expression to a mean boy who would gladly be esteemed."
Pride and grace ne'er dwell in ae place.
Pride an' sweer'dness need muckle uphaudin.
"Sweer'd," lazy or unwilling. Pride and laziness require much to support them.
Pride finds nae cauld.
"Spoken heretofore to young women when, in compliance with the fashion, they went with then breasts and shoulders bare; and may now (1721) be applied to ladies with their extravagant hoops."-- Kelly.
Pride ne'er leaves its maister till he get a fa'.
Pride prinks her brow for the deil to pouse.
That is, pride bedecks herself, and the devil despoils
Pride's an ill horse to ride.
Pride that dines wi' vanity sups wi' contempt.
Pride will hae a fa'.
Provision in season maks a bien house.
Prudence should be winning when thrift is spinning.
Puddins and paramours should be hetly handled.
"Puddings when cold are uneatable ; and love when coldrife is near the breaking off."-- Kelly.
Put a coward to his mettle, and he'll fight the deil.
"A baited cat is as fierce as a lion."-- English.
Put anither man's bairn in your bosom, and he'll creep oot at your sleeve.
"That is, cherish or love him, he'll never be naturally affected towards you."-- Ray.
Put nae force against the flail.
Put on your spurs and be at your speed.
Put twa pennies in a purse, and they'll creep thegither.
Put your finger in the fire, and say it was your fortune.
Spoken of a person who has wittingly placed himself in difficulties, and who attributes his bad position to fortune.
Put your hand in the creel, tak out an adder or an eel
"In buying horses and taking a wife, shut your eyes and commend yourself to God."- Italian.
Put your hand nae farther oot than your sleeve will reach.
Put your hand twice to your bannet for ance to your pouch.
"Put your hand quickly to your hat, and slowly to your purse, and you will take no harm."-- Danish.
Put the man to the mear that can manage the mear.
Put the saddle on the right horse.
Put your shanks in your thanks and mak gude gramashes o' them.
Literally, put your legs in your thanks and make good gaiters of them. A sharp remark on those who pay in thanks only, when a more substantial reward is expected.
Put your thoom upon that.
Conceal it carefully--keep it secret."-- Jamieson.

QUALITY without quantity is little thought o',
Quey calves are dear veal.
A "quey calf" is a female calf. They are generally kept to replenish the stock; it is bull calves that are principally fattened for killing young.
Quick at meat, quick at wark.
Quick, for you'll ne'er be cleanly.
"That is, do a thing nimbly for you'll never do it neatly."-- Kelly.
Quick returns mak rich merchants.
Quietness is best

RAB Gibb's contract,--stark love and kindness.
Raggit folk and bonny folk are aye ta'en haud o'.
Spoken jocularly when a person has rent or caught his clothes upon a nail or other projection.
Raise nae mair deils than ye are able to lay.
"Raise no more spirits than you can conjure down."- German.
Rather spoil your joke than tine your friend.
Raw dads mak fat lads.
Raw leather raxes wee1.
"Raw leather will stretch."-- English.
Reavers shouldna be ruers.
Literally, robbers should not repent.
Reckless youth maks reufu' eild.
"People who live too fast when they are young will neither have it vigorous nor a comfortable old age."-- Kelly.
Reckon up your winning at your bed-stock.
Red brackens bring milk and butter.
"In October, the bracken or fern on hill pastures becomes red wihs the first frosty nights, and about that time the autumnal herbage is very rich, and productive of the good things in question."- Robert Chambers.
Red wood maks gude spindles.
"'Red wood,' the name given to the reddish or dark-coloured and more incorruptible wood found in the heart of trees."-- Jamieson.
Refer my coat and lose a sleeve.
"Rejoice, bucks," quo' Brodie, when he shot at the buryin' and thought it was a weddin'.
Remember, man, and keep in mind, a faith fu' friend is hard to find.
Remove an auld tree an' it'll wither.
Riches are got wi' pain, kept wi' care, and tint wi' grief.
Rich folk hae routh o' friends.
"Routh o' friends," that is, many of them.
Rich folk's wit rives poor folk's jaws.
Rich mixture maks gude mortar.
Ride fair and jaup nane.
"Taken from riding through a puddle, but applied to too home jesting."-- Kelly.
Right, Roger, sow's gude mutton.
A proverbial expression, meaning that a person is totally mistaken about a matter.
Right wrangs nae man.
Ripe fruit is soonest rotten.
Rise when the day daws, bed when the night fa's.
Robin, that herds on the height, can be blithe as Sir Robert the Knight.
Rome wasna built in a day.
Rot him awa' wi' ham and eggs.
Rowan-tree and red thread mak the witches tine their speed.
These particular articles were formerly supposed to have a controlling power over witches.
Royt lads may mak sober men.
To "royt" is to go about idly or dissolutely.
Rue and thyme grow baith in ae garden.
Rule youth weel, for eild will rule itsel'.
Ruse the fair day at e'en.
"Commend not a thing or a project till it has had its full effect."-- Kelly.
"It is not good praising the ford till a man be over."- English.
Ruse the ford as ye find it.
Speak only of things as your experience has found them.
Rusted wi' eild, a wee piece gate seems lang.
Literally, decayed by age, a short road seems a very long one.

SAE mony men, sae mony minds.
"Saft beddin's gude for sair banes,' quo' Howie when he streekit himsel on the midden-head.
"Saft's your horn, my friend," quo' the man when he grippit the cuddy's lug.
"Sail," quo' the king: "Haud," quo' the wind.
Sair cravers are ill-payers.